1992 Croatian First Football League

The 1992 Croatian First Football League was the first season of the top Croatian football league. It was the inaugural season of the league established following Croatia's independence from Yugoslavia. Affected by the political and social upheavals stemming from the breakup of Yugoslavia and the early stages of the 1991–95 war, the season was drastically shortened and played over the course of less than four months, from 29 February to 13 June.

Croatian First Football League
Season1992
ChampionsHajduk Split
1st Croatian title
10th domestic title
RelegatedNone
Goals scored315
Average goals/game2.39
Top goalscorerArdian Kozniku (12)
Biggest home winHajduk Split 9–0 Dubrovnik
(11 March 1992)
Biggest away winZadar 0–4 NK Zagreb
(14 March 1992)
Highest scoringHajduk Split 9–0 Dubrovnik (9 goals)
(11 March 1992)
Average attendance2,881

The league featured 12 Croatian-based clubs, all of which had previously competed at various levels in the Yugoslav football pyramid. Four of the clubs came from the Yugoslav First League, another four from the Yugoslav Second League, and the remaining four from lower levels.

The format used was a double round robin tournament, with each club playing every other club twice in home and away matches, for a total of 22 rounds. However, five of the clubs based in areas most affected by fighting had to host their matches in other towns around the country, effectively playing the entire season in exile. These were Cibalia and Osijek (based in the eastern part of the country, in the cities of Vinkovci and Osijek) and Zadar, Šibenik and Dubrovnik (based in the southern coastal part of the country, in the cities of Zadar, Šibenik and Dubrovnik).

After four of the five displaced clubs which had played the season in haphazard conditions eventually finished in the bottom four places, the Croatian Football Federation decided against relegating any of them, and opted to expand the format to 16 clubs in the following 1992–93 season.

Clubs
Locations of teams in 1992 Prva HNL
Club1 City / Town Stadium Head coach 1990–91 result
Cibalia Vinkovci Mladost2 Mile Petković 2088th in Yugoslav Div 2
Dubrovnik Dubrovnik Lapad2 Mario Bonić 21616th in Yugoslav Div 2
Hajduk Split Split Poljud Stanko Poklepović 1066th in Yugoslav Div 1
HAŠK Građanski Zagreb Maksimir Zdenko Kobeščak 1022nd in Yugoslav Div 1
Inker Zaprešić Zaprešić Stadion Inkera Ilija Lončarević 3022nd in Yugoslav Div 3 West
Istra Pula Pula Aldo Drosina Sergio Scoria 4044th in Yugoslav Div 4 West3
Osijek Osijek Gradski vrt2 Stjepan Čordaš 1099th in Yugoslav Div 1
Rijeka Rijeka Kantrida Marijan Jantoljak 11515th in Yugoslav Div 1
Šibenik Šibenik Šubićevac2 Nikica Cukrov 21212th in Yugoslav Div 2
Varteks Varaždin Stadion Varteks Branko Ivanković 3066th in Yugoslav Div 3 West3
Zadar Zadar Stanovi2 Goran Krešimir Vidov 3011st in Yugoslav Div 3 West
NK Zagreb Zagreb Kranjčevićeva Ivo Šušak 2022nd in Yugoslav Div 2

Notes
  • 1 Several clubs were renamed shortly before the 1992 season began:
    • NK Dinamo Vinkovci became HNK Cibalia
    • NK GOŠK Jug Dubrovnik became HNK Dubrovnik
    • NK Dinamo Zagreb became NK HAŠK Građanski
    • NK Jugokeramika Zaprešić became NK Inker Zaprešić
  • 2 Five clubs were displaced and forced to host their home games outside their hometowns due to shelling in the ongoing Croatian War of Independence:
    • Cibalia hosted 5 matches in Đakovo (against Hajduk, Osijek, Varteks, Šibenik and Zadar), 1 match in Zagreb (against Dubrovnik), 1 match in Čakovec (against HAŠK Građanski), and 4 matches in Požega (against Rijeka, Inker, NK Zagreb and Istra).
    • Dubrovnik hosted 4 matches in Metković (against Zadar, HAŠK Građanski, Rijeka and Inker), and 7 matches in Blato on the island of Korčula (against NK Zagreb, Istra, Hajduk, Osijek, Varteks, Šibenik and Cibalia).
    • Osijek hosted 3 matches in Đakovo (against NK Zagreb, Istra and Dubrovnik), 4 matches in Donji Miholjac (against Hajduk, Zadar, Rijeka and Varteks) and 4 matches in Kutjevo (against Inker, Šibenik, Cibalia and HAŠK Građanski).
    • Šibenik hosted 7 matches in Split (against Osijek, Varteks, Istra, Dubrovnik, Hajduk, Rijeka and Inker), 1 match in Stobreč (against NK Zagreb), 2 matches in Žrnovnica (against Zadar and Cibalia) and a single match in their home town of Šibenik (against HAŠK Građanski).
    • Zadar hosted 4 matches in Split (against Varteks, NK Zagreb, Šibenik and Istra), 5 matches in Solin (against Cibalia, HAŠK Građanski, Hajduk, Rijeka and Osijek), 1 match in Crikvenica (against Dubrovnik), and a single match in their home town of Zadar (against Inker).
  • 3 Varteks and Istra took part upon invitation from the Croatian Football federation - they were given preference over NK Radnik, fourth in the Yugoslav Division 3 West, and NK Neretva, third in Yugoslav Division 3 South.

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Hajduk Split (C) 22 16 4 2 44 14 +30 36
2 NK Zagreb 22 14 5 3 34 9 +25 33
3 Osijek 22 12 3 7 33 28 +5 27
4 Inker Zaprešić 22 10 6 6 37 19 +18 26[lower-alpha 1]
5 HAŠK Građanski 22 11 4 7 32 21 +11 26[lower-alpha 1]
6 Rijeka 22 10 5 7 26 22 +4 25
7 Istra Pula 22 8 5 9 22 27 −5 21
8 Varteks 22 7 6 9 32 25 +7 20
9 Cibalia 22 3 9 10 13 24 −11 15
10 Zadar 22 4 5 13 20 49 −29 13
11 Dubrovnik 22 2 7 13 4 36 −32 11[lower-alpha 2]
12 Šibenik 22 2 7 13 18 41 −23 11[lower-alpha 2]
Source: prva-hnl.hr (in Croatian)
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points.
(C) Champion.
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head record: Inker Zaprešić–HAŠK Građanski 2−1, HAŠK Građanski–Inker Zaprešić 0−2.
  2. Head-to-head record: Šibenik–Dubrovnik 0−0, Dubrovnik–Šibenik 2−1.

Relegation

At the end of the season no teams were relegated as it was decided that the league would expand to 16 clubs for the 1992–93 Croatian First Football League season.

European competitions

During the season Hajduk Split and HAŠK Građanski took part in European competitions on account of qualification secured at the end of the 1990–91 Yugoslav football season - Dinamo/HAŠK ended up as runners-up in the 1990–91 Yugoslav First League and qualified for 1991–92 UEFA Cup while Hajduk Split won the 1990–91 Yugoslav Cup and qualified for the 1991–92 European Cup Winners' Cup.

However, due to violent fighting in parts of the country, UEFA ordered both clubs to host their European matches abroad, in Austria. Dinamo played their UEFA Cup first round fixture against Trabzonspor in Klagenfurt on 11 September 1991 (losing the tie 3–4 on aggregate), while Hajduk Split played their Cup Winners' Cup first round match against Tottenham Hotspur on 17 September 1991 in Linz (also losing the tie 1–2 on aggregate).

At the end of the 1992 season, neither Hajduk Split (1992 Croatian league champions) nor Inker Zaprešić (1992 Croatian Football Cup winners) could qualify for European competitions in the following 1992–93 season as the Croatian Football Federation, the league's governing body, had not been accepted as full member by UEFA. Since its application was finally accepted by UEFA in June 1993, the first Croatian-qualified clubs entered European competitions in the 1993–94 season.

Results
Home \ Away CIB DBK HAJ HGR INK IST OSI RIJ ŠIB VAR ZAD ZAG
Cibalia 0–0 0–2 0–2 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 0–0 2–1 0–1 0–1
Dubrovnik 0–0 0–1 0–3 0–3 1–0 0–0 0–1 2–1 0–0 0–2 0–0
Hajduk Split 1–1 9–0 0–0 0–2 3–1 2–0 3–0 4–1 1–0 2–0 1–0
HAŠK Građanski 2–0 2–1 1–2 0–2 3–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 4–0 3–0 0–0
Inker Zaprešić 0–0 3–0 0–0 2–1 4–1 3–0 3–0[lower-alpha 1] 6–0 1–3 2–1 0–0
Istra Pula 2–0 2–0 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–2 1–1 1–0 2–1 2–1 0–2
Osijek 2–1 1–0 3–3 1–2 2–1 0–1 3–2 3–1 2–1 4–0 1–0
Rijeka 1–0 3–0 0–2 1–0 0–0 3–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 4–1 1–1
Šibenik 1–1 0–0 2–3 3–1 1–1 0–0 0–2 1–2 2–2 4–0 0–1
Varteks 2–0 2–0 0–1 4–0 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 4–0 4–0 2–1
Zadar 2–2 0–0 0–3 1–1 4–3 0–1 3–5 1–1 1–1 2–1 0–4
NK Zagreb 2–1 3–0 3–0 2–0 2–0 2–1 2–0 1–0 3–0 2–2 2–0
Source: prva-hnl.hr (in Croatian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. The match between Inker and Rijeka was suspended with the scoreline 1–0 for Rijeka. The game was later awarded to Inker and registered with the score 3–0.

Season statistics

Top goalscorers
Rank Player Club Goals[1]
1 Ardian Kozniku Hajduk Split 12
2 Igor Cvitanović Varteks 9
Robert Špehar Osijek 9
Goran Vlaović HAŠK Građanski 9
5 Željko Adžić HAŠK Građanski 8
Renato Jurčec NK Zagreb 8
Goran Vučević Hajduk Split 8
8 Nenad Bjelica Osijek 7
Grgica Kovač Varteks 7
Ivica Mornar Hajduk Split 7
Zoran Škerjanc Rijeka 7
Dževad Turković Varteks 7

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstDate
Nenad BjelicaOsijekŠibenik2 May 1992
Dean LjubančićRijekaIstra Pula2 May 1992

Source: prva-hnl.hr (in Croatian)

See also

References
  1. "Lista strijelaca (zbirno)" (PDF). Prva-HNL.hr (in Croatian). Udruga profesionalnih klubova Prve hrvatske nogometne lige. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 September 2009. Retrieved 21 October 2009.
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